According to news, NDU will offer higher education aspirants the flexibility to earn degrees from participating HECIs and digital universities. The launch of the digital university is seen as a big step towards better employability through courses in emerging areas and a way for achieving a required 50% gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education by the year 2030, as expected in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. 

India will be witnessing two major developments in 2023 as India’s first digital university and the establishment of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) launches. The Ministry Education has come up with good news for the academic session of 2023-24 as students will be getting 50 percent of the required credits from one university and the rest from a higher education institution (HEI) of their choice for earning a degree from any top university in India. Furthermore, students can earn credits from different partner HEIs and receive a degree from the National Digital University (NDU).

The digital university will start its operations in the next academic session 2023-24 offering diploma, certificate, and degree courses respectively. Reports also said that digital content would be hosted on the Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) platform, which itself aimed at building virtual campuses to provide democratic delivery of educational services. 

SWAYAM platform is also planning on designing the curriculum for the main courses of the university along with the universities which are already offering online programmes. The digital university allows both private and public institutions which fulfill the eligibility criteria to offer online courses through NDU. 

As per the media reports, aspirants can register for programmes of individual universities through NDU. However, students may also register with NDU and earn the required credits from different partner universities. Whereas, the NDU will provide the degree, diploma, and certificates based on the credits gathered and credited with the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC). 

However, like any other UG programme, multiple entries and exit facilities will also be offered by the digital university. UGC has also stated that the HECI draft bill plans to include UGC, AICTE, and National Council for Teacher Education.